Carbon tetrachloride

Carbon tetrachloride, also called tetrachloromethane, a colourless, dense, highly toxic, volatile, nonflammable liquid possessing a characteristic odour and belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds, used principally in the manufacture of dichlorodifluoromethane (a refrigerant and propellant).

First prepared in 1839 by the reaction of chloroform with chlorine, carbon tetrachloride is manufactured by the reaction of chlorine with carbon disulfide or with methane. The process with methane became dominant in the United States in the 1950s, but the process with carbon disulfide remains important in countries where natural gas (the principal source of methane) is not plentiful. Carbon tetrachloride boils at 77° C (171° F) and freezes at -23° C (-9° F); it is much denser than water, in which it is practically insoluble.

Formerly used as a dry-cleaning solvent, carbon tetrachloride has been almost entirely displaced from this application by tetrachloroethylene, which is much more stable and less toxic.

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a colourless, dense, nonflammable, highly stable liquid belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds. Tetrachloroethylene is a powerful solvent for many organic substances. By the mid-20th century it had become the most widely used solvent in dry cleaning (displacing carbon tetrachloride...

...has been described for hydrogen chloride. First, the valence electrons that are available for bonding are counted (2 × 1 + 6 = 8 in H2O, for example, and 4 + 4 × 7 = 32 in carbon tetrachloride, CCl4), and the chemical symbols for the elements are placed in the arrangement that reflects which are neighbours: ...

...textiles with chemical solvents instead of water. The chemicals, often halides or organohalogens (compounds that contain halogen atoms bonded to carbon atoms), dissolve dirt and grease from fabrics. Carbon tetrachloride was once widely used as a dry-cleaning liquid, but its adverse health effects have cut back its use; other organic halogen compounds are now preferred, particularly...